January 31, 2012

The beauty of being a ghostwriter or speechwriter is that we're part of the silent profession. We are behind the scenes and the worst that can happen is the client doesn't use us again. Eventually we grow up and suck up that we can't please everyone.

With the economic chaos, we writers are taking on more roles, some of them quite visible. One has been my presenting financial information analysis for that stock-picking powerhouse Motley Fool. Oh, it's a heady experience is see one's opinings on financial bulletin boards.

But it's also jarring to have the very human experience of being off in timing. What I had posted on Motley Fool, well I still am convinced I read Amazon.com right. It is a game-changer and will be very profitable. Where I was wrong was how the earnings report would pan out today. But even before earnings were announced, four readers left negative comments.

We women, at the least the liberal ones, who had come of age when "Roe v Wade" became the law of the land assumed it was a done deal. Of course, we were low profile about our own choices but we believed this women's choice was a settled issue and we could go on to other matters such as better jobs.

Boy, were we naive. The abortion issue went high profile today, and in an ugly way. The influential charity Susan G. Komen for the Cure withdrew itself from its partnership with Planned Parenthood, reports AP. With that went its financial support. Last year that totaled $680,000.

Komen contends its decision was due to the fact that Planned Parenthood is being investigated by Congress. Planned Parenthood, in turn, claims the organization caved to anti-abortion power groups.

What this means is, in addition to women being denied care because of lack of funds, that abortion will be on the radar screen in the presidential campaign. This could get very ugly. The president, as a candidate, has to get smart how to play this one.

They say a child learns about the world from the mother's face. If that face is serene, the child will come to expect the world to be a calm, predictable place. If the face is anxious, then all bets are off if the child will even attempt to navigate that hostile setting.

Now we can add something to that truism: we can read the love the mother had and likely still has for her child from her face after the death of that child. And we're reading such suffering in the face of Madonna Badger, whose three daughters died in a Christmas fire, and Joan Didion, whose daughter died from, it seems, a confluence of factors.

Didion records her pain in her book "Blue Nights." When she gets on the other side of shock and despair, we hope that Badger renders a portrait of the experience in a documentary.

My loss of the little ones I have so loved - my dogs and cats - has been recorded in my opinion-editorials on pet grief for THE NEW YORK TIMES and THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. Believe me, that has helped. Yet there isn't a day that goes by since 1982 that I don't have flashbacks of how it was together. In my life are two 16-year-old felines. When they pass on, I will probably pack up and move to Spain. For me, the memory bank is nation-bound. Spain is another country.

When reading Joan Didion's "Blue Nights" one thing stands out: she sure socializes, maybe even is close friends, with famous members of the creative class. An example is the Redgrave family.

These are the types who don't take pilgrimages to Davos and smooze at the World Economic Forum's many networking opportunities. Instead, they build their reputations and ability to attract new opportunities through the unique dynamics of creativity. A Davos glad-hander, no matter how powerful the brandname in a certain field, could never break into the creative class. That's nice to realize.

The movers and shakers, including the governor of Connecticut, have returned from Davos. That story is over, at least for a year. Now we in the creative class are deconstructing the art and business of SuperBowl ads.

Tomorrow, AOL announces its numbers. In this volatile global economy disrupted by technology, a company is either on an upward or downward trajectory. So, we got to ask: which direction is AOL moving?

The numbers to look at are about its ad revenues. This Internet company now depends for 60 percent of its revenue on advertising. Yet, the market for that has been soft, even during the holiday season when it should have been strong.

I analyze AOL's positioning for financial information powerhouse Motley Fool. Here you can read all about, before AOL tells its story Wednesday.

January 30, 2012

Teri Everett, reports Odwyerpr.com, says it's time for something new. She had joined News Corp back in 2000. Back then she was Vice President of corporate communications in LA. She's leaving as Senior Vice President of corporate affairs and communications. On her watch she had managed the UK hacking scandal.

Odwyerpr.com notes that Julie Henderson, now Senior Vice President and chief communications officer on the West Coast, will absorb some of Everett's responsibilities.

In addition to its now-iconic Polar Bear commercial, during the game, those bears will be stars of video streaming on CokePolarBowl.com. That's going to happen through Facebook where the bears watch the game, comment on it, and even deconstruct the commercials. Since there will be more the usual number of racy ads, including for consumer product Doritos, bear parents will cover the eyes of Baby Bear if the content is too explicit.

During The Great Recession, the one bright spot, both for consumers and for the investment community, has been what has come to be known as the "dollar stores." Their success is obvious by how many additional ones have been springing up. In just one shopping center in North Haven, Connecticut, there are two of them. They are always crowded.

However, often that label isn't completely accurate. That's because some dollar stores such as Family Dollar sell items for less and more than a dollar.

Many of us in communications have become fascinated with their ability to survive and thrive in the worst of times. Now we're wondering how they plan to manage in better times as the economy picks up steam. So, I asked Josh Braverman, Communications Director for Family Dollar, to tell us more about this bargain phenomenon.

JG: What is your new strategy in the grocery aisle?

JB: Our goal is to provide our customers with what they need when they need it. Right now shoppers are focused on the basic needs. Our assortment reflects that need. We’ll continue to tweak our merchandise mix to meet customer’s needs and that includes increasing our assortment in food. We’re focused on providing more name brands and we’ll complement that with our quality private brand. We know food drives trips to our store and it’s our hope that while the customer is shopping for her food, she’ll find a treasure or two for her home.

JG: What makes you project success?

JB: Family Dollar invests to know our customers better. We’re doing more customer research than we’ve ever done in the past. What we’re learning is that our customers are appreciative of the great value we provide and they like the improved shopping experience in our stores.

JG: How about a little background on your particular way of framing the awesome dollar concept?

JB: As a multi-price point retailer our prices range from $1 or less up to $10, $20. At Family Dollar we pride ourselves on the value we provide to our customers. Often value goes beyond the price our customer pays for the merchandise. We’ve put a lot of effort into developing a global sourcing program that is focused on providing a quality product for our shopper at an everyday low price.

JG: Why did dollars stores in general and yours in particular really take off during the downturn? It was, I have a hunch, more than the price points

JB: The combination of value and a convenient shopping experience has helped Family Dollar weather the latest economic downturn. As customers look to stretch their dollar as far as they can, they have come to know that Family Dollar offers the name brands they know and trust at price points that may be better than their grocery store. As a neighborhood store, it’s easy for shoppers to run in for a quick fill-in trip and not have to travel to a big box store.

JG: As the economy slowly recovers will the middle class lose their taste for the dollar stores?

JB: We know that we’ve benefited from a new customer shopping with us more often to save money. She’s liked not only the savings but also the shopping experience. Through the renovation program and our new store format, we feel that we’re well positioned to hold on to this “trade in” customer.

JG: Your employees seem very happy. What might be the reasons for this? After all the old social contract is out the window and the world is searching for a new one. Maybe we can learn from your organizational culture.

JG: Our culture continues to evolve. We’re squarely focused on our stores and providing our teams with the tools they need to service our customer. In 2010 we completed a rollout of new technology in our stores to help our store managers run their stores, manage their inventory and provide excellent customer service. As our stores continue to be successful, that culture goes through our Distribution Centers to our Corporate teams.

JG: What are the key challenges in external and internal communications in 2012?

JB: From an external communication perspective, there is still a large percentage of people who may have a misperception of Family Dollar. They might not realize that we are a major retailer that carries the name brands people trust and need as well as quality private brand that offers additional value. We also offer great merchandise in apparel, home, seasonal etc.

Internally, it’s always a challenge to get 50,000+ people on the same page. We’re working hard to continue to improve how we communicate throughout the chain and continue to drive our culture of customer service.

JG: What has been your career path so far? What might other public relations players and students learn from it?

JB: I started my career in the media and made the transition to PR after about 12 years in TV. TV was good to me, but I had run my course. The one thing I would recommend for people is to practice writing. Writing is a “lost art” and to be successful in PR/Communication, effective writing is essential.

JG: Thank you for all this insight into the dollar concept and how Family Dollar has created its own distinct brand.

It may be inaccurate to use that analogy of the (Selectric) typewriter to flag what's so yesterday.

The reality, explains Joe Coscarelli in NEW YORK Magazine, is that 18 government agencies in New York City still use typewriters. Right now the Department of Administrative Services is preparing a contract for them for those agencies.

In the sophisticated soap opera "Downton Abbey," melodrama ran especially high in last night's episode for the second season. As the cliche goes, war changes everything and the war wounded Matthew in a way he can no longer perform as a man, William dies after lingering for a few days and marrying Daisey, and Mary becomes somewhat human as she tends Matthew. Here are the details.

One of the villains comes in the form of Bates's wife, who threatens to tell all about whatever and is stopped only by Mary's boyfriend of convenience, a media tycoon who prefigures Rupert Murdoch of News Corp. Now Mary is in debt to him. But the way she tenderly cares for Matthew, it's obvious where her heart is.

Since the war has only three more months to go on, the series will have to find its creative tension elsewhere.